Zenit Empire, Saint Petersburg.
After the war in the Southern Frontier reached a stalemate, the empire's precarious situation became even clearer.
The fourth prince Christo, suffered a defeat in the Southern Frontier and completely lost the support of the royal family, nobles, and the poor. He became a powerless obstacle in the midst of the turmoil. As for whether he was biding his time and waiting for an opportunity, only he himself knew. At least, few people in the empire believed that this ambitious but incompetent prince would get a new opportunity.
The military and political power of the Southern Frontier War Zone was temporarily placed entirely in the hands of the Second Prince, Dominguez. This prince, who had been away from military power for many years and had never proven himself in military affairs, finally got the opportunity to perform. Although he could not be as Zongheng as the Empire's God of War, the First Prince Arshavin, he had already won a lot of praise and capital by relying on a legion of less than 100,000 men to hold off the Lyon Empire and the Ten Empires Allied Army to a draw.
Emperor Yassin remained ill and out of the capital, leaving military and political power in the hands of the Military Department, the eldest prince, and the Senate of nobles.
As for the newly risen power of the empire, King of Chambord, after becoming the Empire-Protecting Martial Saint of the Empire, his prestige and strength had reached an unchallenged peak. Some grassroots forces that had suddenly risen and disrupted the empire's established power structure were now forced to reluctantly acknowledge the rise of the Chambord people.
However, with the recent spread of unfavorable rumors about King of Chambord Alexander's betrayal of the Human Clan, various previously hidden forces have begun to stir.
In just half a month, the entire Zenit Empire has been in the Storm Riders, with events unfolding in a dazzling and unpredictable manner.
Pressure from all sides surged like a tidal wave. Countless empires in the surrounding area had issued notes demanding that the Zenit Imperial Family explain the matter of King of Chambord. After all, releasing Sea Clan monster could endanger the empires near the Fragrant Sea Region, and even the entire human race of the Northern Region. Countless royal families and noble clans were filled with righteous indignation at this incident, and slogans demanding the execution of every Chambord person were constantly coming from the surrounding empires.
For a time, because of Sun Fei, Zenit was on the verge of becoming the common enemy of the entire Northern Region's Human Clan.
Faced with an unexpectedly the Storm Riders environment, although the Zenit Imperial Family strangely remained silent, the various noble factions within the country inevitably began to divide. Some firmly chose to support and trust Alexander, the newly appointed Guardian Martial Saint of the Empire, while others advocated revoking the title of King of Chambord, enslaving all the people of Chambord, and hanging members of the King of Chambord to appease the surrounding empires and powers, thus preventing the empire from falling into ruin.
However, compared to the constant divisions and infighting among the nobles, the common people of the empire seemed much more resolute.
Even today, millions of citizens in the capital still vividly remember the thrilling scene of King of Chambord descending from the sky and turning the tide when the Ten Empires Allied Army besieged the city. No matter how convincing the rumors may be, no one believes that such an imperial hero could be the despicable and shameful sinner in the rumors, or rather, they simply do not want to believe it.
For days, countless people in the streets and alleys of Saint Petersburg have been talking about this matter. They are praising the heroic deeds of the Guardian Martial Saint, condemning the cowardice of the nobles, and shouting slogans demanding that the royal family protect the heroes of the empire. If they hear anyone talking about or spreading rumors, they will swarm and beat them to a pulp. Some even shouted slogans to declare war on the empire that is pressuring them!
Unfortunately, commoners are of low status and their voices carry little weight, so how many nobles would be willing to listen to their opinions?
The situation is slowly becoming more unpredictable and the Storm Riders, making it difficult to see clearly through the fog.
For several days in a row, more than a dozen neighboring empires have sent envoys to Zenit to exert pressure.
Today is the eighteenth day.
In the morning, as the sun rose, the bells of Saint Petersburg's South Gate once again rang throughout the capital's sky.
And this time, it rang a full eight times.
Upon hearing the bell, many busy commoners on the bustling streets of the capital stopped what they were doing and looked toward the south gate of the capital with hostile and worried eyes.
"Have envoys from other empires arrived yet?"
"The bell rang eight times, indicating that at least eight other imperial delegations have arrived in Saint Petersburg this time."
"Are they here again to pressure the imperial family, demanding the assassination of the Martial Saint?"
"Hmph, these despicable and shameless bastards, are they jealous just because Zenit has produced a young genius, a peerless hero? Their attempt to harm Lord Martial Saint Alexander is nothing but wishful thinking."
"I think this rumor is a conspiracy orchestrated by these empires. How could the Martial Saint be a traitor to the Human Clan Sea Clan? I would never believe it if you beat me to death. Hmph, who is the Martial Saint? Open your dog eyes and see for yourselves! Since his emergence, has he ever done anything to harm the Human Clan?"
"That's right! I don't know what the royal family is still hesitating about. Those damned nobles, fat and bloated, are all no good. They actually advocate sentencing the Martial Saint. They're really senile!"
Amidst the murmurs of voices, the sound of carriages and horses drifted from afar.
Under the sunlight, a dazzling display of jewels and the cold gleam of silver armor emanated from the end of the street. Leading the way were two [ Iron-Blooded Camp ] knights clad in black standard armor, followed by a convoy nearly a hundred meters long, clearly divided into eight groups. Each group had a different style of decoration and banners. There were eight extremely ornate carriages in total, and the guards in different costumes and armor rode arrogantly on their warhorses, each looking down on the commoners on both sides of the street with an air of superiority.
The escorting convoy slowly parted the crowd and headed towards the distant palace.
As expected, they were an envoy team from a neighboring empire.
The eight envoys represented eight empires, and together with the more than ten envoys who had already arrived in the capital, at least twenty empires had issued a strongly worded note to the Zenit, demanding severe punishment for the Chambord Archipelago.
The common people were right about one thing: Sun Fei's sudden emergence and extraordinary talent had indeed put immense pressure on the surrounding empires. They did not want the existing power structure to be disrupted. The appearance of such a peerless figure was a blessing for Zenit, but a huge threat to other empires. This rumor was an opportunity for them. They did not need to distinguish between truth and falsehood; their greatest wish was to take the opportunity to eliminate the threat.
"Look at these Zenit, they seem quite unhappy about our arrival," a knight from the Anzhi Empire, mounted on a fine horse, chuckled mockingly.
"A bunch of pathetic wretches," another Anzhi knight scoffed, spurring his horse forward.
There will be another update tonight.